A good read on riding out in the American outback....

[Tom]

Where cell phones don't work and a credit card won't save your a$$.  Look at a map and judge for yourself your bikes range.  GPS sometimes isn't that reliable either.  An

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/riding-alone-an-addendum?cmpid=enews100416&spMailingID=26683869&spUserID=NjMxMTY5MDc5MzIS1&spJobID=900404268&spReportId=OTAwNDA0MjY4S0

[JJ]

Yes, I have ridden across Nevada many times...and it some places...it is definitely "Godforsaken" (forget about lonely!! - LOL)

Towns like Tonopah...Beatty... Elko....like something out of that old TV series..."Twin Peaks!" 

[Tom]

Y'ep, I'm glad they're there but makes you wonder about how come they ended up there? 

[JJ]

Y'ep, I'm glad they're there but makes you wonder about how come they ended up there?

Only one explanation...SOLIT UDE! (LOL) 

Probably a lot had to do with the mining in the area back in the day...

[Tom]

I think you're right on the mining. 

[JJ]

I think you're right on the mining.

See more here.  As we passed through these towns on the way to the west coast (CA), my wife made this comment when I said: "I wonder what people do that are living here today?"  She said: "People living lives of quiet desperation..."

[normzone]

Holden:   You're in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of the sudden-
Leon:   Is this the test now?
Holden:   Yes. You're in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down-
Leon:   What one?
Holden:   What?
Leon:   What desert?
Holden:   It doesn't make any difference what desert, it's completely hypothetical.
Leon:   But how come I'd be there?
Holden:   Maybe you're fed up, maybe you want to be by yourself, who knows?

[JJ]

Holden:   You're in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of the sudden-
Leon:   Is this the test now?
Holden:   Yes. You're in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down-
Leon:   What one?
Holden:   What?
Leon:   What desert?
Holden:   It doesn't make any difference what desert, it's completely hypothetical.
Leon:   But how come I'd be there?
Holden:   Maybe you're fed up, maybe you want to be by yourself, who knows?

Brilliant!! :1:

[Tom]

Yeah, I read that on Nye County prior to posting on another thread.  They have a newer gas station/Burger King/Subway on the north edge of town across the street are apartments.  While downing some water and enjoying the a/c, I saw one employee going home and one coming to work across the highway.  I told Richard that I'd have to have a "6 figured salary to work/live out here."  He remarked that he wouldn't live in Tonopah if he did have that salary.

[Moto]

I ran out of gas on exactly that stretch of Highway 6, long ago. I think that gas station at Warm Springs was already defunct back in the 80's. I got some gas from a rancher and was soon back on my bike.

I think I could enjoy living in Tonopah. Ely, probably not. Tonopah has had more of that hip, urban vibe, being so close to California.

There is no stretch of highway in America that I have liked better than that one through Nevada. Hard to say why, though. The writer of the article made some apt comments, but who ever heard of water being too hot to drink? It's water, dude. Drink it unless its boiling!

Moto

P.S. After that incident I started packing a spare gas can full of gas. That worked.

[JJ]

Dunno , no humidity , very few people , no CCTV watching every move , doesn't sound bad ...

 Dusty

Hey...maybe Beatty-Elko-Tonopah is just the spot for our 2017 National Rally!! (LOL) 

We could call it..."The PLLOQD (People Living Lives Of Quiet Desperation) Rally - and have cool pins and T-shirts made up and everything!!

[JJ]

I ran out of gas on exactly that stretch of Highway 6, long ago. I think that gas station at Warm Springs was already defunct back in the 80's. I got some gas from a rancher and was soon back on my bike.

I think I could enjoy living in Tonopah. Ely, probably not. Tonopah has had more of that hip, urban vibe, being so close to California.

There is no stretch of highway in America that I have liked better than that one through Nevada. Hard to say why, though. The writer of the article made some apt comments, but who ever heard of water being too hot to drink? It's water, dude. Drink it unless its boiling!

Moto

P.S. After that incident I started packing a spare gas can full of gas. That worked.

Only one word for your future adventure rides....ROTOPAX!

[JJ]

...or even better..."The American Outback Rally" - - where Guzzi riders run out of gas from EVERYWHERE!!

[JJ]

...or "The Middle of Nowhere Rally" 

The possibilities are just endless...just NOT in June-July-August!

It could be like the Guzzi version of The Burning Man Festival!!

[Moto]

Only one word for your future adventure rides....ROTOPAX!

I like steel better. But they don't make em anymore.

[Moto]

Hey...maybe Beatty-Elko-Tonopah is just the spot for our 2017 National Rally!! (LOL) 

We could call it..."The PLLOQD (People Living Lives Of Quiet Desperation) Rally - and have cool pins and T-shirts made up and everything!!

 :1: But Beatty and Elko are too built up. Walmart, anyone?

Pahranagat valley is nice.

[betres]

I think you're right on the mining.

Many years back stopped in Elko for dinner.  Went to the Star Hotel and it was slammed.   Interesting thing though 99% of the customers were men, almost all in dress white shirts, black pants and smoking up a storm while talking....Basque.  Asked the waitress what was going on and she said these men tended flocks of sheep and now had some time off so all gathered for a kind of homecoming.  Really a great evening with outstanding food.  Checked to see if the Star is still there and it is , but so is Starbucks etc.....hmm.  Didn't think there was that kind of money in shepherding.......

[fatbob]

There is a sign at the edge of Ely on highway 6 that says "NO FUEL NEXT 167 miles". He probably saw the sign but his story wouldn't have been much fun if he wasn't running outa gas. You can take a hot tub in an abandoned hot spring pool at warm springs. You just hafta climb over a fence. It's nice!

[rboe]

Leaving Ely a few years ago, on my Quota, I saw the sign: 178 miles to gas. I was headed to Amargosa Springs Nevada and figured that was the shortest way. But the Quota is a thirsty lass so I turned around and headed south to Vegas. Added a couple hours to drive time but it was a safer choice.

In Nevada, it's nice they put up those signs, and even nicer if you heed them.

[rboe]

167? My memory is not what it used to be. sigh.... 

[Tom]

 

[Tom]

I heeded the last gas signs.  I don't care the distance involved.   Good excuse to stretch and look at the map.  No....I have GPS and don't want one.

[not-fishing]

More than four decades ago I drove home from Cedarville, Ca where I was working to Gerlach then Nixon Nevada on my way to Sacramento.  The California side was mostly paved, the Nevada side was mostly dirt.  No other cars or trucks the entire road.  Hours of dirt.

Two decades ago I took a 100 mile bike ride with others in the California foothills around Moccasin.  It ended up being a bit of a Starvation Ride because most of the Gas Stations and Shops were boarded up for the season or just plain out of business.  At least we were able to find water.

I ride with enough water to last me two days just in case I have to walk out................

It's a Boy Scout thing.

Mark

[rocker59]

  I said: "I wonder what people do that are living here today?"  She said: "People living lives of quiet desperation..."

  desperation
1
:  loss of hope and surrender to despair
2
:  a state of hopelessness leading to rashness
See desperation defined for English-language learners


Kind of an uppity thing to say about people you don't know, but I guess she's a big city gal and doesn't "get" the desire some people have to live away from the "noisy desperation" of the millions of poor souls languishing in the megalopolises that blight the landscape. 

[JJ]

  desperation
1
:  loss of hope and surrender to despair
2
:  a state of hopelessness leading to rashness
See desperation defined for English-language learners


Kind of an uppity thing to say about people you don't know, but I guess she's a big city gal and doesn't "get" the desire some people have to live away from the "noisy desperation" of the millions of poor souls languishing in the megalopolises that blight the landscape. 

Actually, her comment was "just a joke...."(Geeez!)  ...and she is from the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, if that helps you...

[oldbike54]

Actually, her comment was "just a joke...."(Geeez!)  ...and she is from the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, if that helps you...

 Dayton OH , surely one of the most "outback" places in the country 

 Dusty

[rocker59]

Dayton OH , surely one of the most "outback" places in the country 

 Dusty

Yeah.  With a population of only 2500 people per square mile, it's practically desolate there.   

[rocker59]

Actually, her comment was "just a joke...."(Geeez!)  ...and she is from the suburbs of Dayton, Ohio, if that helps you...

I don't guess you noticed the smilies.

If that helps you...

[JJ]

I don't guess you noticed the smilies.

If that helps you...

I did... ...and no worries...all in good fun.   

Some neighborhoods in Dayton, OH, like some in Poughkeepsie, NY, where I grew up, (around Mansion Street)...are like "war zones" today. 

Drugs...gang violence...homes abandoned and bordered up...properties neglected....metal detectors at the local banks...Some places look like a scene out of some areas in Detroit today. 

We witnessed this several years ago when visiting both places...really sad...and not the places we remember growing up in as children...

Frankly speaking...one would be FAR better off living in the desert in Tonopah-Elko-Beatty than there (IMHO)

[rocker59]

  no worries...all in good fun.